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How much to charge for website building?

Itux
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 Joined: 2007-09-17
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Hello Guys;

Last Friday (03/28) I was asked to help building the websites of two small business close to my home. It is a simple task, just make the websites and keep them running in a external webserver.

I have some experience building personal websites (plain HTML and some JAVA), but they need something more "professional", and they want to include Paypal.

Does anybody here have an idea about how much should I charge them? For building the site and for keeping them running.

And what do I need to know about Paypal?

So I'm not afraid of learning something new but I do have some doubts about this assignment. This is not my area of expertise, and the request took me by surprise.

If everything goes well I'll telling you.

Thanks

PS: I hope I can do this during my son naps and during the nights.


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Submitted by Itux on Sat, 03/29/2008 - 9:59pm.

Mr. Dad
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You CAN do it

First of all, Visti Pay Pal. There will be plenty of info on using the service.

As for charging for your service, it varies. I searched for many designers when I had my webstore designed. In the end it cost about 5K to set up, but that varies by design and needs. This was probably mid range pricing. High end is 10-12K. I used seasoned vets for the job. If you are new to the game, you may want to charge a reasonalble charge, but don't sell yourself short.

As for doing it at home... for sure you can do it. I am a SAHD running our webstore(www.doctorschoicefootstore.com), so your endeavor is perfect for a SAHD. I had to load all the products, as well as the descriptions, etc. They only provided the program basics. Flexibility is key. Just keep it realistic to your clients.

Good Luck.


Sat, 03/29/2008 - 10:14pm

Itux
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Thanks

Thanks Mr. Dad for the info. I also think it is possible.
BTW, I check you website and it's very informative.

======================
Congratatio pro erudio et auxilium
Itux


Sat, 03/29/2008 - 11:05pm

MileHiDad
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Keep it Cheap

Especially if you are going in with technology you aren't familiar with, PayPal is pretty easy unluss you go into the Linux custom parameters, then you are going in deep and tweak on the hosting server. If you know JAVASCRIPT like a pro, charge like a pro, otherwise KISS. No offense, but if you get in over your head and are charging like a pro, especially if you use FP, they will be looking for help elsewhere sooner than later.
Good luck!

-Mike DT1 MPCG My Site, http://www.milehidad.com/ and my Blog, http://www.milehighdad.net/.
Make Babies, Not War!
I Wanna Know How Forever Feels...


Sun, 03/30/2008 - 4:10pm

Itux
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 Joined: 2007-09-17
 Dad Points: 202
What is cheap?

Hi there;

Thanks MileHiDad for your answer. I won't charge as a pro, cause I'm not one of them, but what I'm looking for is information about what others may be charging. I have requested estimates from professional web developers but so far, I get little info from them about the cost of templates.

So the help I need is to figure out how much to charge, an average price please.

======================
Congratatio pro erudio et auxilium
Itux


Mon, 03/31/2008 - 11:37am

PittCaleb
Posts: 44
 Joined: 2007-10-08
 Dad Points: 79
what is your time worth?

I used to do some small projects - as a stay at home dad, you need to determine what your time is worth - and that may have nothing to do with the current market for this project or your skills.

specifically - if it requires you to put the kids into some sort of child care, there's a cost to that. If it requires you to dedicate X hours a day and set the kids in front of the TV or to work in the evening, there is a 'cost' to that. I wouldn't re-arrange my life for $25/hr. Would I for $40 or $50? Maybe... Give up your evenings with your wife for the next 6 weeks while you set up the site? Come up with a figure you're comfortable with - it doesn't mater what the going rate for your services are.

Then you do have to see what you're getting into. I did some web work for a guy once that I was completely unfamiliar with. I did it on the cheap for him to learn the technology (i.e. got paid 'something' to learn a skill which i then used in my portfolio). If you're honestly not an expert in what needs to be done, you can't charge top dollar - it's not fair to you or to the client - and you probably won't turn out the best product either.

Don't forget taxes! Seriously, even if they don't give youa W-2 or 1099, you MUST pay taxes. Figure a solid 33% will go to taxes off the top between state & federal. I was offered a "part time job" through a friend. Web development. he was willing to pay me $25/hr for the work, which included pager support. After taxes, that $25 was at best $15/hour take home. There is no way in heck I'm going to leave the playground, the mall or the beach for $15/hr to take care of some guys web site problem.

To me, my time is worth much more than what you might be able to find someone for on rentacoder.com! I've been home for almost 7 years now and the decision was made long ago for this lifestyle. Yeah, I'd love to be dabbling and working in the field again and learning new technologies, but my priority is still my kids. And with Spring right around the corner, I don't want to have to make the decision between biking at the park or writing some code while my kids watch another episode (or 3) of Dora the Explorer.

Good luck!
PittCaleb


Mon, 03/31/2008 - 12:32pm

jimpmc
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I looked back

on the invoice from the company that designed my companies website and they charged $2400.00 included 5 pages and a contact page. The hosting is $17.95 per month includes 500mb, 25 email accounts, 10 gb transfer. We do online payments but it is done through quick books via paypal and credit cards so we handle the flow. Company charged us $65.00 per hour to set up the link. Hope this helps a bit.


Mon, 03/31/2008 - 12:43pm

Itux
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Posts: 121
 Joined: 2007-09-17
 Dad Points: 202
Thank guys

Thanks guys;

That was the info I was looking for.

I'm not planning to sell my family time, but I don't want to lost this opportunity even.

I have already the templates and it is just matter of time to put all the business info on the pages, kind of copy/paste/ edit

Thanks again, now I have something to think about.

======================
Congratatio pro erudio et auxilium
Itux


Mon, 03/31/2008 - 1:24pm

MileHiDad
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 Dad Points: 1138
If It Were Me

I would charge 15 bucks an hour, because it is, only just a copy and paste job, with little creativity and more than likely they know it as well. (Call me crazy and you guys will) I would charge more if I were to be available 100% of the time and you'not. At 15 bucks an hour, your not going to get rich and this sounds like it is just for some extra cash and they know it as well. If they know your an At Home Dad or mom for that matter, no offense, they need to know it and that's hour first priority everyday. With that said, don't make yourself something your aren't, be honest and on the same page as they are, they will appreciate it and more work from them is likely to come your way, then if you sign a contract, get it noted that you would like to renegotiate a price if more work were to come your way. I charged 40 bucks an hour for similar work once and felt guilty as hell about it and was glad it was over, but 15 bucks an hour for 40 hours (it might turn into reoccuring) of work from home on your time makes for a nice stash of cash. Start asking big bucks, then you got to start thinking about paying taxes and then explaining to Mr IRS if they come knocking and you aren't paying taxes. In their eyes a hobby income and real income is a fine line. Proofreading, grammar and spelling, are you going to do it, or are they? think about it long and hard. Something to weigh into your considerations as well, even with copy and paste.

-Mike DT1 MPCG My Site, http://www.milehidad.com/ and my Blog, http://www.milehighdad.net/.
Make Babies, Not War!
I Wanna Know How Forever Feels...


Mon, 03/31/2008 - 4:09pm

jimpmc
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 Joined: 2008-02-26
 Dad Points: 161
Templates?

If you are doing templates take MHD's advice. Don't go crazy with billing. They will know. Time is money but, if it is going to take you 2 hours to lay down the site then a few to transfer and host go gently and take the residuals in more work to come...word of mouth, etc...you said hosting (small monthly charge)...keep it under reporting and if it takes off, learn some new stuff then charge the big number and hosting becomes a big money maker especially for a stay at homer. A friend of mine started simply an inexpensive hosting company with a handfull of clients and he is now a SAHD. Never look for the homerun you will miss the rest of the game.


Mon, 03/31/2008 - 5:40pm

Silent October
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 Joined: 2008-03-11
 Dad Points: 25
Freelance

I put a site together for a client using the paypal shopping system and realized later that I had severely under charged him for the job, even though I had no clue what I was doing, at first. This was well before I had a kid at home, too, so the late nights were no problem for me.

Itux, If you need help with the code, I'll try to answer any questions you may have. I could even give you some of my code if it would help you out. It took me several hours upon hours to perfect the code, but once I did, it was copy/paste throughout the rest of the site, which really made finishing the site a breeze, once I got over the initial hurdle of what the heck I was doing and how to code the site.

Have you also considered using OScommerce, instead?

My site: october17design.com


Tue, 04/01/2008 - 1:31pm

cwandless
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Posts: 8
 Joined: 2008-08-01
 Dad Points: 16
Great Outsourcing resources.

I agree with MR. DAD but if you want to get real fancy and get some other techy stuff done. You can outsource very cheap.
Here are some links.
www.getafreelancer.com
www.accessti.com


Fri, 08/01/2008 - 1:40pm

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